Friedrich knuttel



No. 622,05l. Patented Mar. 28, I899. F. KNUTTEL.

GRAIN STEEPING TROUGH 0R CISTERN.

(Application filed. Dec. 9, 1898.)

(No Model.)

Men STATES PATENT FlCEt FRIEDRICH KNIITTEL, OF OHARLOTTENBURG, GERMANY.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 622,051, dated March28, 1899.

Application filed December 9, 1898. Serial No. 698,742. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRIEDRICH KNiiTTn engineer and managingdirector, asubject of the Kin g of Prussia, E mperor of Germany,and

a resident at Charlottenburg, in the Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire,have invented new and useful Improvements in or Connected withGrain-Steeping Troughs or Cisterns, of which the following is aspecification.

Where grain-steeping troughs or cisterns are used, water may be employedby a wellknown method either during the soaking process or after itscompletion for simultaneously flushing the grain away into anotherreceiver and washing it. To this end compressed air is admitted into thelower end of a tube erected within the steeping trough or cistern,whereby a mixture of air,- water, and grain is caused to issue from theupperend of such vertical or ejector tube, so that the grain, along withthe water, may be conducted into another receiver. What has hithertostood in the way of the more general adoption of this grain-washingprocess was the great consumption of water which it involved, for it hasbeen found in practice that the amount of work yielded by the siphonarrangement must decrease at a rapid rate and eventually dwindle away tonaught unless the water in the trough or cistern is maintained at alevel representing not less than about sixty per cent. of the length ofthe vertical tube-that is, of the height to which the grain is to belifted. The consequence is that in order to remove all the grainremaining in the steeping trough or cistern a sufficient quantity ofwater has to be superadded to raise the waterlevel to at least theheight above mentioned.

The improved arrangement according to this invention admits of a lowersituation of the minimum water-level in the trough or cistern, suchminimum becoming in fact reducible almost at will, and of aproportionate saving in the quantity of water required. This isaccomplished by providing the lower end of the steeping trough orcistern, which is generally of conical form, with a cylindricalextension of small diameter and inserting the correspondingly-lengthened ejector-tube into such extension.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 and 2 represent verticalsections of one form of a steeping trough or cistern constructed inaccordance with this invention, it being shown in Fig. 1 as it is duringthe steeping or soaking process, while Fig. 2 illustrates its conditionat the end of the washing stage.

To the conical bottom of the trough or cis tern a, which is providedwith an overflow at (t there is fitted the cylindrical extension I), thelower end of which is provided with a compressed-air tube or nozzle 0.The watersupply tube a is situated near the apex of the conical bottomof the trough or cistern, at which point there is also provided a valved, serving to keep the extension-cylinder 1) separate from the steepingtrough or cistern proper. This valve is preferably rigidly connectedwith the ejector-tube e, so that such tube can be made use of as ahandle for con trolling the valve. During the soaking process the valve(Z is kept closed, as shown in Fig. 1; but for the purpose of flushingthe grain away into another receiver the tube cis slightly lifted, asshown in Fig. 2, so that the grain slides down into the cylinder 1) andis carried upward as the compressed-air-inlet tube comes into operation.In Fig. 2 there is indicated the lowest water-level required to keep upthis siphon action, while the point.

that such water-level should reach, where (as in the arrangementheretofore adopted) the ejector-tube does not extend beyond the apex ofthe conical bottom, is indicated by the dotted line. The differencebetween the two levels represents the minimum saving of water effectedby the arrangement according to this invention, a saving which may beincreased, as will be readily understood, by still further extending thecylinder b and ejectortube (2 in the downward direction.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is

1. In a grain steeping trough or cistern, the combination of a troughwith an ejector-tube within the trough, an extension at the lower end ofthe trough within which the ejectortube extends, and compressed-air tubeor nozzle, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

2. In a grain-steeping trough or cistern, the combination of a troughwith an ejector-tube within the trough, an extension at the lower end ofthe trough within which the ej eetor-tube extends, a vaii c connectedwith the ejectortube which valve closes the extension against thetrough, and compressed-air tube or nozzle, substantially as and for thepurposes hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

FRIEDRICH KNUTTEL. \Vituesses:

E. G. GOLDSCHMIDT,

VOLDEMAR HAUPT.

